Adventure Just Around the Bend on Overnight Trip on the Clarion River

By Gretchen McKay, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

BELLTOWN, Pa. -- Every paddler has her moment when the only thing on her mind is placing her water shoes on dry land. For me, it came about five hours into the overnight kayaking trip my husband and I took a few weeks ago on the Clarion River.

We'd slid our boats into the water under sunny, late-morning skies about 12 miles upriver under the bridge at Arroyo, Pa. Having kayaked the family-friendly Clarion on a number of occasions, we figured we'd travel at least 4 mph -- maybe 5 mph if we put some muscle behind the paddling -- a pace that would take us through this tiny crossroads in Elk County not long after we'd eaten our picnic lunch on one of the many giant rocks at the river's edge. From there, it's be an easy 5 miles to camp at Clear Creek State Park, leaving us plenty of time for a walk through the woods before a grilled steak dinner.

Talk about miscalculations. We wouldn't pull our boats to shore at Clear Creek until well after 6 p.m., more than three shoulder-aching hours off schedule.

Don't get me wrong -- it was a gorgeous, meandering ride as the Clarion zigzags through narrow valleys of old-growth hardwood forests bustling with wildlife. (We spied several hawks and a blue heron.) Virtually alone on the water, with nothing but the occasional ripple of whitewater or a jumping fish to break the solitude, we were totally immersed in its natural beauty.

Read the rest here: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10178/1068400-140.stm

Doe tag fees unchanged, available July 12

From the Post Gazette...

Sunday, June 27, 2010

By John Hayes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Beginning July 12, county treasurers will accept doe tag applications from resident hunters. Nonresident applications will be accepted starting July 26. Residents and nonresidents can apply for the first round of unsold antlerless deer licenses on August 2, and residents and nonresidents apply for the second round of unsold antlerless deer licenses on August 16.


Doe tag fees for the 2010 license year have remained flat since 1999, with the exception of the 70 cent fee attached to each licence and permit transaction, paid to the Nashville company that runs the Pennsylvania Automated License System, whether the transaction is made through the mail or at a treasurer's office. By state law, antlerless tags can be sold only by county treasurers. License applicants must send separate applications to each county. Resident's checks must be payable to "County Treasurer" for $6.70, nonresidents pay $26.70.


County treasurer addresses are available on the Pennsylvania Game Commission's website (www.pgc.state.pa.us) and in the 2010-11 Pennsylvania Hunting & Trapping Digest. Addresses for the Adams, Lancaster and Montgomery county treasurers were changed after publication of the Digest. The correct addresses are as follows: Adams County Treasurer, 117 Baltimore St., Room 101, Gettysburg PA 17325-2390; Lancaster County Treasurer, PO Box 1447, Lancaster PA 17608-1447; Montgomery County Treasurer, PO Box 311, Norristown PA 19404-0311.


"As county treasurers are set up with PALS, hunters will be able to submit an application to any county treasurer," said executive director Carl Roe. "Additionally, hunters have the option of listing up to three choices, in order of preference, for a specific Wildlife Management Unit antlerless deer license. If an applicant's first choice of WMU has exhausted its allocation of antlerless deer licenses, the county treasurer will move to the second preference -- and third, if necessary. This process will nearly eliminate the chance that a hunter will not be able to receive at least one antlerless deer license during the processing of regular antlerless deer licenses. However, hunters are not required to list more than one choice of WMU."


A special deal for Wildlife Management Units with high deer populations -- 2B, 5C and 5D -- starts August 2, when there will be no limit to the number of unsold antlerless deer license applications an individual can submit until all of the allocations are sold.

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Hunter Education Class To Be Held August 6th and 7th, Register Now!

Next Hunter-Trapper education class to be held in August 6th and 7th here at the club. All registration must be done online at the game commission website. Here's a direct link.

HUNTER-TRAPPER EDUCATION CLASSES

All Hunter Education classes MUST be registered for online (click here)


Class times Friday 6-9PM and Saturday 8AM to 4:30PM

The Class is FREE, but you must pre-register. Space is limited to 40 students! Please register early!

Bull Creek Rod and Gun Club's Hunter-Trapper Education classes are held twice a year, in early spring and late summer. Our last class was held in March, 2010. Classes are taught by 4 or 5 certified instructors who are both Bull Creek club members and trained by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.  For more details click on the Hunter Trapper link to the left on this page or register using the link above.